COEUR d’ALENE — The case of a married couple and their adult son accused of poaching four mountain lions and eight bobcats across three counties in North Idaho could go before a jury in June.

Last August, a Kootenai County grand jury indicted St. Maries residents Eddy A. Dills, Daniel D. Dills and Angela Y. Dills on charges of conspiracy to commit unlawful killing of wildlife, conspiracy to sell unlawfully killed wildlife and conspiracy to conceal evidence, all felonies. 

In court Monday, defense counsel indicated that a plea deal is unlikely. 

“I just don’t see an offer at this point in time,” said Craig Zanetti, a defense attorney representing Daniel Dills. “There was an offer at one point in time that was rejected and I haven’t heard anything else since then.” 

A five-day jury trial is set to begin June 8. 

The crimes are alleged to have occurred between May 2024 and February 2025, spanning Kootenai, Shoshone, Benewah and Latah counties, according to court records. 

Prosecutors said Eddy Dills, 65, and Daniel Dills, 22, had lost their hunting privileges when they allegedly used hunting dogs to tree a mountain lion south of Wallace and to hunt another mountain lion near Leiberg Creek. Authorities also accuse the father and son of using dogs to hunt near bobcat traps and near the Coeur d’Alene River. 

Eddy and Daniel Dills allegedly dumped a mountain lion down an embankment after it had been unlawfully shot and killed, according to court records, in an effort to conceal an illegal kill.   

Angela Dills, 64, allegedly accompanied her husband and son while hound hunting on several occasions. Prosecutors allege that she didn’t kill any animals herself but made it appear as if she did, completing mortality and harvest reports for bobcats and mountain lions that her husband and son had killed. Defense counsel has argued that Angela Dills hunted legally and completed the reports in accordance with the law. 

Prosecutors and defense counsel agreed Monday that additional jurors should be called because of the nature of the case. 

“This case has generated some press, which may impact the jury panel,” Zanetti said. “Certainly, an expanded panel would be necessary.” 

For felony cases, 65 to 70 prospective jurors are called and whittled down to 13 jurors and two alternates. First District Judge John Cafferty said it’s likely the expanded jury panel will be twice that size. 

In 2024, Daniel Dills pleaded guilty to knowingly selling, purchasing or exchanging unlawfully killed wildlife, a felony, in Latah County, according to court records. His hunting license was suspended for three years.  

The Columbian reported in 2019 that Eddy Dills received a 60-day jail sentence after pleading guilty under an Alford plea to hunting a cougar with a dog in Cowlitz County, Wash. This practice is illegal in that state.